Petition from SumOfUs calls on McDonald’s to stop using plastic straws

Wednesday, 13 September, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

A new petition from SumOfUs, an international corporate watchdog, has urged fast food giant McDonald’s to stop using plastic straws. The organisation’s argument was that the straws given to customers were discarded after minutes of use, and that many of these ended up getting dumped into the ocean, heavily damaging marine wildlife, specifically turtles, baby seabirds and fish, as a result. The petition has been signed by over 1,10,000 people.

“Plastic pollution is one of the biggest threats to our oceans, and straws are one of the most common plastic items found in beach clean-ups,” said Sondhya Gupta, campaigner, SumOfUs.

“McDonald’s gives millions of these straws to customers every day. Taking them out of use would be a major step towards cleaning up our seas and protecting wildlife. If McDonald’s is actually serious about improving its impact on the environment, it has several options at its disposal, including instituting drink-through lids as the standard or even switching to sustainable and recyclable paper straws,” she added.

“When we expose the darker side of corporate giants like McDonald's, they take action to protect their brand. And in doing so, we score a massive victory for our planet. If we can get McDonald’s to ditch its dirty habit, we can stop millions of plastic straws clogging up our oceans and killing the animals that live in them,” said Gupta.

This past year, SumOfUs also pressured McDonald’s, along with companies like Starbucks and KFC, to commit to sourcing 100 per cent responsible palm oil.